Thanks guys for all the nice comments!
It really is a lovely bike to look at. The Italians only do a few things well, but those things they do really fecking well. As much as this bike is nice to look at it honestly rides even better. It's got character and personality unlike any other. At idle it's got this deep loping thing going on, but with a distinct Italian flavor. It rev's aggressively, has a wide power band and turns to butter at 5k rpms. One of the sweetest sounds to me is the overrun exhaust note as you downshift coming down a hill. It handles extremely well out on the open road. It turns in nicely and loves to hold sweepers at speed. This year was the last year they had the steeper fork rake. Starting in 2001 they mellowed it out a few degrees. I honestly don't see why though... The handling is smooth and predictable and not twitchy in the slightest. I could go on...
Someone put me out of my misery and buy this beautiful bike already!